Gio Ponti designed the present sofa for a private residence in Milan in circa 1936. The sofa’s design, which features a high back with curvilinear details carved in wood, hints at Ponti’s interest in the metaphysical during this period, and illustrates his penchant for an element of amusement in his designs. The sofa originally featured printed silk upholstery by Fede Cheti, a Milanese textile firm established by Federica Cheti the same year. Ponti was an early supporter of Cheti’s experimental textiles and the pair maintained a career-long relationship. In addition to her collaboration with Ponti, Cheti’s fabrics also featured the work of prominent artists, such as Raoul Dufy and Giorgio de Chirico.

Among the most prolific talents to grace twentieth-century design, Gio Ponti defied categorization. Though trained as an architect, he made major contributions to the decorative arts, designing in such disparate materials as ceramics, glass, wood and metal. A gale force of interdisciplinary creativity, Ponti embraced new materials like plastic and aluminum but employed traditional materials such as marble and wood in original, unconventional ways.

In the industrial realm, he designed buildings, cars, machinery and appliances — notably, the La Cornuta espresso machine for La Pavoni — and founded the ADI (Industrial Designer Association). Among the most special works by Gio Ponti are those that he made in collaboration with master craftsmen such as the cabinetmaker Giordano Chiesa, the illustrator Piero Fornasetti and the enamellist Paolo de Poli.